Build affinity for your new product or service with live-streaming

Reaching a new customer can be harder than ever these days. While media and product messaging is coming at consumers from every imaginable outlet, techniques have been developed to ignore and sidestep nearly all of it. To stand out, you need to make your product launch an event. If your advertising dollars end up being blocked, fast-forwarded through, or disregarded, then your new goal should be to make consumers anticipate your new services or merchandise as an event release. In today’s 140 characters and forgotten climate, few things are more attention grabbing and build more lasting consumer enthusiasm than a live-streamed event. And it is easier than you may think.

Getting a consumer to buy in and feel a sense of community with a company is certainly no easy task. You can establish loyalty programs, provide exclusive messaging and add-ons, and build an account system where an employee manages the most important clients, but at the end of the day, you never truly know how deep a customer’s affinity goes. Live-streaming is just the tool for the job. Whether you’re launching a product or hosting a special event, consumers want to be part of the moment. Many organizations hold closed-door galas, pack theaters for ticketed reporters and diehard fans for new product launches, and host exclusive press events all in hopes of establishing allure, but ultimately these are one-offs. The magic of the room and launch is gone almost the moment it happens. Why not open these events to online attendees?

Live-streaming events and product launches tell vested customers you want them here and potential customers to look at what they’re missing. This is surprisingly easy to setup. Whether you want to hire on a full audio/video crew to provide multiple camera angles, or simply set up a single shot of a desk or podium, dozens of services are ready and waiting for you to broadcast your brand online. Popular free options include YouTube, Facebook and Periscope. Facebook will broadcast to your social audience, YouTube will hit a public forum, and Periscope is a Twitter tool best suited for first-person perspective. If you’re looking for a professional setup with better tracking tools, customer support and viewer login options, Livestream.com is the way to go. With plans ranging in price from $42 to $1,200 per month, every possible broadcasting tool you can think of is available with Livestream.

No one knows your company like you, and nothing screams authenticity than live events, so why not embrace those elements to their full potential by sharing them live and online? n